Keeping track Of World Politics So You Don't Have To.

In The Absence Of Anything Hugely Compelling ...... happening in Pennsylvania today, we start our Tuesday with Australia's Sydney Morning Herald, and the news that a politician there named Kim Beazley (a guy) has proposed that tourists and aspiring immigrants pledge allegiance to "Aussie values" before being allowed entrance into the Merry Old Land of Oz.Beacause if you don't, the terrorists win."I firmly believe Australian values of respect for each other,
mateship, fairness, freedom and respect for our laws are the front
line in the struggle against extremists and terrorists," Beazley blathered.The rest of today's slightly less surreal news starts after the jump.

The House He Lives In ...... with all apologies to Frank Sinatra, we pass along this item from this morning's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, in which we learn that Democrats on the Allegheny County Council plan to offer a resolution tonight calling for "heightened scrutiny and potential prosecution of homeowners who improperly claim a homestead tax exemption."In other words: Take that, Sen. Santorum. According to the P-G, the homestead exemption for real estate taxes is only supposed to be used for a homeowner's primary residence. Santorum claims the exemption even though he has publicly acknowledged that he, his wife, and their seemingly innumerable brood spend most of the year in Leesburg, Va.A Santorum aide told the P-G that although Our Rick claims the exemption, he also regularly donates a check for the equivalent amount to the county. Santorum's campaign also did not immediately explain why he would take the exemption and make the payment, instead of just not taking the exemption -- a procedure that would have the same net financial result for Santorum and the county.Hmmm ....

And Golf Shall Save Them.While the rest of the nation mourned the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, politicians in PA and NJ did what they do best yesterday: raised money and played golf.As they have every September for the last 15 years, loyal GOPers in Burlington Co., N.J.. headed out for their annual golf outing, despite criticism from Democrats who called it "inappropriate," the Philadelphia Inquirer reports this morning.Local GOP boss Rich Levesque told the Inky that about 200 people attended the outing at the Burlington County Country Club. Tickets ranged from $400 to $10,000, and attendees remembered the day with a moment of silence -- presumably at the 19th Hole after they'd finished their round.In Blair County, Pa., outgoing state Senate President Pro Tempore Robert C. Jubelirer also went ahead with his annual golf fund-raiser in Hollidaysburg (just 40 miles from Shanksville), despite criticism from good government types who called on him to cancel it. Admission was $500.Jubelirer's spokesman, David Atkinson, told the Inky that, "It wasn't as though (Jubelirer) was thinking there was anything disrespectful."And remember, if you bogey, the terrorists win.

Guess We Know How We'll Be Spending Our Morning.The state Senate Rules Committee meets at 10:30 a.m. to convene a public hearing on gambling reform (remember that??). Witnesses include state Sens. Joe Conti, Jane Orie and Jay Costa, as well as legislative lawyers Christopher Craig (Democrat) and Fran Cleaver (Republican).But the best reason to claim a seat may be the 12:10 p.m. grilling of PA Gaming Control Board Chairman Tad Decker. That one could get messy. Be sure to wear stain-resistant clothing.We're Being Stalked By Ed Rendell.We darn near spat up our fresh-brewed Starbucks this morning when we saw that an epistle from none other than Gov. Ed had somehow evaded our spam filters.How did we know it was from him?Well, there was the whole "Gov. Ed Rendell" thing in the sender line. Plus, the e-mail sported greasy fingerprints and was covered in TastyKake crumbs, so that made it a dead giveaway.In any case, Pennsylvania's chief executive touchingly wanted us to help him come up with an agenda for his second term. We had thought he had legions of intelligent and well-paid staff, or at least Dan Fee, to help him come up with this stuff. But, being the good sports that we are, we decided to play along.We were asked to pick our top priority from a list of subjects that included the environment, healthcare, higher education, jobs, public education, public safety and the all-encompassing, "other."We thought long and hard -- well at least as long and hard as we needed to, and 10 seconds later, we decided that none of the topics offered by Gov. Ed matched our personal priorities.That's because we just looked at the standings and found that the Pirates were 18 games out of first place, and completely out of contention for the playoffs.Though we are a New York Yankees fan by birth and inclination, we cannot help but sympathize with the good people of Pittsburgh who have lost so much in recent days.So, governor, we ask you, should you win a second term, please bring professional baseball to Pittsburgh.The people there deserve at least that much.

We Get Letters Dept.Every once in a while, we dip into the Capitol Ideas Mailbag so that you, the reader, can feel like you have a say in the formulation of this little dog & pony show. Because if we've learned nothing over the last five years, we learned that it's important to pretend that we live in a democracy.Anyway, today's missive comes from David Shoemaker of Allentown, who writes: "Thank you for all you have done for the Republican Party. We use your
articles to judge how well we are doing. The nastier and more partisan your
articles are, the better we are doing in getting our points across. Thank you
again and keep up the good work! "Mr. Shoemaker, it should be noted, failed utterly to provide any evidence of our nasty partisanship, but that's all right. Still, most regular readers of this space should know by now that our snarkiness recognizes no party line or philosophical boundary. It's just that Republicans tend to have better press operations, which just gives us more material to mock.Think of it as trickle-down sarcasm, Mr. Shoemaker, and you might feel better about things.

Sometimes It Snows In September ...... Tony Snow, that is. The former Fox News (snicker) host-turned-Bush Administration propagandist is the featured speaker at this weekend's Republican State Committee meeting. Snow's dinner speech is on Friday night at 7 p.m. at the Radisson Penn Harris on the Camp Hill bypass, just over the river from the Capitol.GovWatch (TM):Gov. Ed's in Harrisburg at 11 a.m. this morning, where he's scheduled to ... wait for it ... make an important transportation announcement at the train station on Market Street. A solution to Pennsylvania's mass transit crisis? We're guessing probably not. A gratuitous photo-op? Probably yes.Lynn Swann, meanwhile, tours areas of the state where cows nearly outnumber the humans. He's in Indiana County for most of the day, and then heads to York tonight for a stroll through the York County Fair.

On The Capitol Ideas iPod This Morning:Return with us now, won't you, to the thrilling days of 1993, when Capitol Ideas was but a mere lad of 23, and U2 had just produced the futuristic-sounding LP Zooropa. We remember that fall as a good time for new music: Liz Phair released her seminal debut, Exile in Guyville; Paul Westerberg offered his first, post-Replacements solo record, 14 Songs, and Squeeze turned out the lovely Some Fantastic Place. Indeed, it was a heady couple of months there.Tuesday's Gratuitous Soccer Link:European club soccer's most exciting tournament, The UEFA Champions' League, gets underway today with a slew of matches. There's two we're paying particular attention to this week. That'd be today's match pitting Arsenal against German club Hamburg. This one'll be interesting because Arsenal striker and captain Thierry Henry is down with a foot injury. Then, tomorrow, Manchester United takes on Glasgow's Celtic.After last year's ignominious early exit, much is at stake for the Red Devils and manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

Current Comments

I suppose Mr. Shoemaker just borrowed one of the "news reporters" mode of operations -- just write it, or even "ignore it" facts be damned.

Posted By: Steve | Sep 14, 2006 6:08:15 AM

The P on the Pirates caps stands for Progress. Since the All-Star break, the Bucs have won more games than they have lost (with this team, that's significant) and they have a 13-2 record in one-run decisions since the break, the best in baseball. The young arms are steadily maturing and a few, but not all, of the bats are producing. Next year, the P on the caps will stand for Playoff Possibilities. Foolish hope springs eternal.

Posted By: Patton | Sep 12, 2006 11:01:08 AM

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